The most influential people in my life are deceased. These include my parents, George Dunne, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., my minister in college.
I used to jump out of airplanes. I was a member of the 101st Airborne Division. When parachuting, you never look down at the ground. You feel for it with your legs. Your knees are your shock absorbers - you cannot tighten them. Same as skiing.
My top goal as your Secretary of State is to save lives by reducing fatal traffic crashes. When I established the Teen Driver Safety Task Force, the goal was to improve Illinois' graduated driver licensing law and, even more importantly, to save lives.
I just thank the people who took part in our graduated drivers task force, who came with their thoughts and ideas as to how we can best keep our roads safe, and it has paid off.
Instead of going to spring training, I went to basic training.
I first met Dr. King in 1954 when I was a student at Alabama State University and a member of a local church down there. He was in town to organize a rally against public transportation. Rosa Parks had been arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man, which was illegal back then.
